Aftermath
by the1wh0gotaway
Summary: It's been 6 months after Johnny and Dally's Death, and everyone in the gang is trying to move on with their lives without forgetting their friends who passed. Everyone's growing and changing, especially Ponyboy. R&R, First outsiders fic, be gentle.
1. 6 months later

Alright, this is the first outsider fic i've ever written. I never thought i'd ever write an Outsider fic, but the inspiration bug bit me, so I did. I'm not god, so I know there are probably mistakes and such in my writing, if you're gonna criticize then be gentle, I can take hits every here and there, but I don't take kindly to complete jerks. Thanks for your time and I hope you enjoy reading as much as I do writing. Thanks in advance.

* * *

**Ponyboy's POV : **

**Chapter 1: **

It's been 6 months since Johnny and Dally passed. God, It's gone by 

so dang fast. Never really thought I'd ever make it to see 6 months go by, but today's 

the day. I never really understood how fragile life could be until the day I lost two of the 

best buddies I'll ever have. I realize you can't take anything for granted. 

I've learned to appreciate the little things a lot more, too. Like the way  
Darry is so overprotective of me just'cause he don't want me gettin' into somethin' I can't  
handle. I realized he does care about me, and that even though I don't have parents,  
I still have two great brothers who make up for it just the same.

Ever since I wrote the essay for my English class, it's been a weight  
off my shoulders, if you could call it that. It made me realize that Dally and Johnny  
live on through those pages that I wouldn't let my teacher publish. I'm saving it though,  
maybe one day I will publish and let the world know that Dallas Winston did have a heart,  
and that Johnny Cade was more than the gangs pet --He was a hero.

A lot of things have happened in the last 6 months. We're moving into a bigger  
house,only around the corner,but it's still bigger than the one we got now. Its got 3 bedrooms  
so we all can have our own. 'Big for throwin' parties,' Soda says, and of course I know that  
he ain't lyin' when he says it.

Darry got a better job, he's into landscaping and mowin' lawns and  
stuff like that. He's makin' better money and he enjoys it more too, I can tell cause he's a  
lot nicer when he comes home from a long day of workin'.

Cherry Valance moved to Ohio to live with her grandparents because she  
said she had too many bad memories and experiences here in Tulsa, and that her family  
couldn't take her always bein' depressed all the time. I was sad for a while, but  
then I realized it was probably the best thing for her.

Two-Bit's still the same, but then again that goofball will never change,  
and that's the way we all like it. Soda hasn't changed, and Steve still hangs around a  
lot, and he's been a lot nicer to me lately. He's not as bad as I thought he was, but  
he still can be a pain in the ass sometimes.

Nothin' really is new here with ol' Ponyboy. I'm 15 now and I  
start my first day of bein a junior in a couple of days. I'm still the same ol' greasy  
Ponyboy everyone knows and loves. Well, not really, but everyone knows me now  
since I was in the paper when it all happened. I never really imagined or wanted what  
happened to make me well known, but now I'm like this kind of celebrity I guess.

And I hate it.


	2. She digs okay

Ponyboy's POV:

Chapter 2:

I cant believe summer's over already and that school's finally here I kinda like  
school, but I can really hate it sometimes. It gets to you, especially High School. The work,  
the people, the teachers.. it gets to be too much. I was sure as shitI was gonna be late, but  
Soda the speed-demon made sure I wouldn't complain later and drove me to my first day as  
quick as he could.

I saw everyone scrambling in the hallways lookin' for their friends and such, watching on  
as greasers and soc's gave each other dirty looks and bumpin' into each other on purpose,  
just lookin' for a fight. I shook my head and tried my best to avoid any trouble, I wouldn't  
mind any later in the year, but not on the first day.

As I looked around for my homeroom, I noticed people staring and  
pointing at me, whispering to each other. I gritted my teeth. I hated when people did  
that. I could practically hear every word they were sayin'. That's the one who was good  
friends with the greasy kid who died in that fire, and the badass who commited suicide  
by police cause he couldn't take it anymore. I hated how people could be so damn  
two dimensional.

I was the second in the classroom, the first was this blonde chick  
who I'd never seen before. I looked at her once as I walked in and then walked up to  
my new homeroom teacher. It was Mr. Grey, He had Soda and Darry in his class a  
years back for English, and I knew he'd recognized me. He didn't say anything to me,  
but he gave me my schedule and smiled.

"Michael Curtis, have a seat behind Miss Finch."

I guessed it was the blonde chick, only 'cause she was the only other  
one in the class, so I went on. She stared at me as I sat behind her. She had big blueish gray eyes  
that reminded me of Dally's, and long straight blonde hair that made her stand out. She was pretty,  
real pretty. She turned away and stared back at the board. I wanted to break the silence so I asked  
her what her name was.

"Alice," she said. "Alice Finch. Nice to meet you..uh.."

"Ponyboy, my buddies call me that. You're not from 'round here, are you?" I asked.

"Nah, I moved here from Nebraska a few weeks ago. My Aunt decided to move where everything  
was slower. I don't know, I kinda like it here, but It's really not that different from where I was  
before like I thought it would be."

"That's cool," I said. She liked to talk, that was for sure.

"So," she went on, "Why do they call you Ponyboy?"

"Eh, It's just a pet name my parents came up with when I was a kid. I liked horses and stuff like that so they  
figured Ponyboy fit me, and then my brothers started callin' me it, and it's been my name ever since." I never mentioned  
my parents to anyone really except Johnny, Darry, and Soda. It felt good reffering to them.

"It's cute," she said smiling. I liked her smile. It was comforting in a way.

We'd been talkin' for a while until we realized everyone else was in class and the bell rang, but it was fun.  
We have a few classes together, and I'm kinda happy to be honest. She reminds me of Johnny, timid and  
shy, but tough and fun. She dug okay as far as I was concerned.


	3. Like Soda n' Sandy

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I actually wasn't entirely sure about the whole name thing, when I read the book I thought Ponyboy was his nickname and Michael was his real name. Thanks for straightening that out though, I was wondering myself. My bad. :) And, I don't want you guys thinking im making this story what is popularly known as, a "Mary Sue." This story isn't only about Pony meeting a girl and falling in love and all that mushy stuff, it's about some of the other characters too. Well, thanks again to everyone reviewed, and thanks for the constructive criticism, sometimes it helps, and I don't take it as a flame at all.

* * *

The past few weeks of school got me thinkin'. Just about Johnny and Dally, and everyone else. Soda  
told me things would change and I'd meet new friends and new people and that Dally and Johnny would become  
a memory. I didn't want to believe it, but I guess I had to. I can't describe it, but it's just I for a while I couldn't  
believe they were really gone. Like I'd wake up one day and it would all be just a bad dream, and me, Johnny,  
and Dally would go see a movie and laugh about it all. I hated reality. 

But then Alice came. She was different, and I didn't really understand why. She wasn't a greaser, but she wasn't  
a soc either. She was somewhere in between from what I could see. She was pretty and dressed nice, but she wasn't  
afraid of anythin'. She had that tone when one of the school bullies told her she was sittin in his seat in math. She  
went ahead and told him if he didn't get outta her face she was gonna straight up punch him. I'd never seen a girl like  
that go and talk to one of the biggest kids in school, ever. He said somethin' back to her, only for her to say somethin'  
that really got him back in a bad way, and he just shrugged and sat in the last row. She was Tuff.

"Ponyboy, can you help me with this?" she asked. I looked over at her paper and saw she was nowhere near as done as I was.

"Yeah sure. It's real easy, you just gotta go on and subtract from this side, bring it down, and then subtract again, and then there  
you have it. Simple as that." I smirked. It really wasn't that easy, I guess you could say I was showin' off.

"Yeah.. that is simple. I'm just not real good with numbers, you know. I'm more into English than Math. I like poems and stories  
and stuff like that. Math is just numbers, useless equasions." she said.

"Yeah," I said, tryin to think of somethin' else to say. She was hard to talk to, almost like when it was hard to talk to Cherry sometimes.  
I was always scared I was gonna embarrass myself and make myself look dumb or somethin'. But then again, she had that feeling  
that even if I did say the wrong thing, she wouldn't judge me. I liked that.

"So, what are you doin' after school today?" I asked. She tilted her head. I gulped.

"Well, I'm gonna go home and do my homework, then probably nothin'. Why?" she asked, with a big smile on her face. She knew I was gonna  
ask her if she wanted to hang.

"Uh, well, I was wonderin' if your not doin' anythin' if you'd want me to show you around. I know you've been here for a few weeks and all but you know  
I could really show you around. Like all the good drive-ins, or all the good places to eat, or-"

"Yeah Ponyboy, I'd really like that," she said grinning. I was real relieved when she said she'd like that, maybe she had a little thing for me.

"Alright well, i'll pick you up at your place around 7?" I asked. I knew where she lived cause I'd walked her home a few times before when we  
were at school late studyin' and it was a little dark out.

"Sound's good. Why are you all red Ponyboy?" she asked, tilting her head again.

"I am..?" I asked.

"Nah, I'm just playin'. I'll seeya around 7 then Ponyboy. The bell rang two minutes ago and we're still not in class. Bye." she said smiling, and then she walked out.

"So stupid," I said, slapping myself.

I went on to my next 3 classes, that went by really slow might I add, and then started to walk home. I saw Alice leave to walk to her house with her bookbag. I smiled. She looked so cute. I went to turn around when I saw four guys followin' her home.

'Oh, man,' I said to myself. They were probably gonna bother her. I decided to follow them.

"Hey baby, you're not from around here, are ya?" It was Brett Masters, I knew who he was on accounta' he talked to Cherry when she was still around.

"No, I'm not," she replied cooly. "I'm guessing you are?" she said, with no tone in her voice.

"Yeah, I am. Whats a cute little girl like you walkin' home all by yourself?" he asked. I was getting annoyed, but I stayed far back.

"Well, that's really none of your buisness, now is it?" she said. I wasn't lyin' when I said she wasn't afraid of nobody.

"What if I wanna make it my buisness?" he asked, this time a little anger in his voice. Was he being rejected?

"Make it what you want, but I gotta go home, so you take your little buddies and go run off somewhere else, I don't have time for you guys anyways, goodbye." she said, walking a little faster.

I had a feeling she was getting scared.

"Come on baby, let me-"

"Knock it off, Brett." I managed to speak up. "She don't want any trouble. Now go on, beat it."

"What did you say to me you little shit?" Brett said, a little angrier than before. Oh boy, what am I getting myself into.

"Look, I don't want any trouble. She's my friend and all she wants to do is go home. She don't want any trouble and either do I. So can't we just  
call it a day and all go home?" I said, tryin' not to get him even more mad. He stared at me.

"Yeah, I can do that. Come on boys, lets go. Mr. Incredible here says we gotta leave, so come on. Let's beat it." He said sarcastically. His friends looked at him, then looked at me, and then started walkin'.

Brett came up to me and whispered in my ear, 'This ain't over grease,' and left. I guess he was embarrassed. I knew he wasn't just gonna walk away that easy and I'd probably have to pay for it later, but I didn't care cause I saw Alice staring at me in awe. A girl's never looked at me that way before.

"Wow, Ponyboy," Alice said, "That was real nice of you. You saw they were messin' me and you went outta' your way just to make em' stop without fighting. No one  
back in Nebraska would have done that for me. It was real sweet." she said, smiling that million dollar smile. I was blushing.

"Well, it was nothin'. Keepin' you outta trouble. Besides, i'm sure your friends back in Nebraska would have helped ya just the same." I said.

"Well, i'm not too sure about that." she walked up closer to me and gave me a hug and kissed me on the cheek. "Thanks again Pony, I'll see you tonight," she said, and walked away.

"Wow," I said to myself. Now I knew what Soda was talkin' about when he said he always got this good feelin' everytime he was around Sandy. I was feelin' somethin a little bit like tha when Alice went and kissed me, even if it was just a friendly kiss on the cheek. I'm fallin' for her, I think, like Sodapop fell for Sandy.


End file.
